The Boulder-based Native American Rights Fund Monday announced the formation of a first-ever institute that will provide tribal nations with resources and training to advocate for their water rights.

The Tribal Water Institute, to be located at the Native American Rights Fund, will receive initial start-up money – a three-year grant of $1.4 million – from the Walton Family Foundation. 

In a statement, Native American Rights Fund Staff Attorney David Gover said the institute will help fill a critical gap.

“It will provide legal support, train water attorneys, develop policy ideas, and educate state and federal decision makers. By increasing law and policy expertise within Tribal Nations, we can help Indian Country ensure water is available for generations to come,” he said. 

The Native American Rights Fund started off as a pilot project in the late 1960s under the California Indian Legal Services in Berkeley. The nonprofit entity moved to Boulder in 1971, where it was run by David Getches, who later became the dean of University of Colorado’s law school. John Echohawk, who was recently recognized for lifetime achievement by the American Bar Association, became its executive director in 1973, a position he has held ever since.

The group has represented tribes in nine of the 35 tribal water rights settlements approved by Congress since 1978.

The group said tribal needs are growing due to the effects of climate-related stresses on water supplies and the legal frameworks used to manage them. The group also noted tribal nations are underrepresented in management discussions and claimed federal and state policy proposals consistently ignore tribal needs and limitations.

Many tribal nations do not have the capacity to develop and bring forward water proposals, the group added. 

The institute will double its water staffing, allowing it to take on more cases, the group said.   

“Addressing the West’s significant water challenges requires an all-hands on deck approach. Tribal Nations must be included in water decision making,” said Moira Mcdonald, environment program director of the Walton Family Foundation. “Tribal Nations often have the most senior water rights in the Colorado River Basin and throughout the West. But they are under-represented in federal and state policy discussions.”

Mcdonald added: “That is unjust and unwise. We need to listen to their voices. More inclusive decision-making will lead to greater benefits for the environment and society as a whole.”

The issue of tribal water rights has grown in the wake of the Colorado River crisis, particularly in the conversations around renegotiation of the river’s interim guidelines, set to renew in 2026.

Thirty tribes rely on the Colorado River for water, and tribes are believed to hold about 25% of the water rights to the river. But the tribes were left out of the 1922 Colorado River compact because, at the time, Native Americans were not considered to be U.S. citizens. They were granted citizenship in 1924. 

Troy Eid, the former U.S. attorney for Colorado and president of the Navajo Nation Bar Association and an expert on tribal water rights, has said tribes have relied on a 1908 U.S. Supreme Court decision that said they have the right to enough water to ensure their reservations can be permanent homelands. But even with that decision, reservations often lack the infrastructure to access that water, he said. 

That’s changing. The bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will devote nearly $327 million into fulfilling Indian water rights claims, according to an announcement last month from the Biden administration. The funding will support major water projects across the West to secure reliable water supplies for tribes.